Navigating south from Brisbane???

[Wayne_Red]

Hi all.
A fellow Ausfisher has bought a 30' steel trawler in Brisbane to convert into a recreation fishing boat.
When the weather breaks he and I will bring it by sea from Brisbane to newcastle. It has a cruising speed of @8 knots and draws about 6'. We will take about 5-6 days port hopping and fishing along the way.

As we have not been in the Morton Bay area before we are after a little local knowledge to help us on our way south. Any help will be appreciated.
I know motron bay can be ordinary if the weather is not so good.
I would think the south passage between morton and stradbroke is out? And the best route for us is to go north around morton isl.

Looking at the chart of the area morton bay is fairly shallow with marked channels.
At 8kts we figure it will take about 5hrs to get from the brisbane river to the north end of morton island. Is there a safe place to anchor there for the night given good sea conditions? near North point maybe?
Venus banks looks shallow, go around them to the north?
It looks like we can get between cape morton and brennan shoals ok without going around huchinson shoal?
From there we would make a 9hr run to the tweed the next day and probably anchor up around cook island.
How is the southport seaway? is it a safe port to get into? never been there either.
I assume the water connection between the south end of morton bay and the southport seaway by river, shown on the chart, is only navigatable in a small tinni?

Both of us have years experience at sea. We are just looking for a bit of local knowledge around this area.

Thankyou.
Regards Wayne

[brrbear]

well said wayne hope some local advice comes!

[seatime]

have you considered heading south thru Sthn Moreton Bay to the Gold Coast and out the GC Seaway. Pick a flooding tide and stick to main channels, and you should be right with 6' draft. Get a hold of a Qld chart for that area and have a look, it'd save a long haul around the Cape.

[webby]

Mate if your leaving the river, it would be quicker to head south to the seaway, strait down the middle of the bay to macleay then go via caniapa passage to the pin then the bedrooms and strait down the inside of straddie to the seaway.
Just watch some of the areas on low, get a good chart map will help.
regards

[seatime]

only area to worry about in Canaipa Passage would be near Koureyabba at Sthn end of Russell Is near Oak Is, you'd want as much water as possible there. Time the trip to pass thru on the last of the flood.
Seen one of the old Hayles type ferries using the channels around Tabby Tabby, they draw a bit of water, not sure which one, Miramar, Queenslander or Lady Brisbane?.
Give Jacobs Well VMR a call, if anyone knows where the shallow spots are, and deeper areas, they would.
South to the Seaway is definately do-able though, lots of vessels larger than a 30' trawler use this route.

cheers
Steve

[Noelm]

done quite a few 'major" trips in unfamiliar waters before (most recently a charter yacht back from Whitsundays to Sydney) and the best advice I can give is get the best chart you can (not all that expensive) and if you have GPS it is a real breeze, and a hand held compass, and parrellel ruler (this is the short version) mark your position on your chart "plot" a course (in pencil) that will take you safely to where you want to stay over or alter course to 'round an Island or Headland, use your GPS to get very accurate lat and Long, mark on chart every half hour or so, and repeat to ensure you are "on course" also double check with your hand bearing compass (if you know how to use it) just to make sure, that part of the trip is really quite easy because there is not a lot to "run into" compared to the island riddled whitsunday part of the coast! also very obvious is fuel capacity and where you can refill when/if needed, there is a dozen books that make it very easy and give you all the "leads" and safe anchorages along the entire east coast.

[Wayne_Red]

Thanks guys
sound like south to the seaway is the go.
We have a full set of charts, gps, radar, compass etc. Just waiting for good weather.
Thanks again for the advise.
ps. you guys can't turn a few wahoo on for us can you?
Regards Wayne

[Marlin_Mike]

Friday satdy sunday monday looking good